[jorgemac]

Yes finally got the right tab posted. Please review and good luck in picking this in a new neck position. it’s tuff being 79 and much change and having to figure out computer stuff when you didn’t touch one until your 70’s.

[jorgemac]

Sorry, I’m not computer literate enough to add the I phone photo to the message. I’ll work on it to see if I can figure out how to add the photo.

[jorgemac]

Howard, that is interesting. It seems when we have easy Wednesday scales and the song is popular. A lot of us, me included, have positive comments about Wednesdays. Hotel California is one of my favorites , Wonderful tonight also. Ain’t no Sunshine, I love.

But most of us don’t claim Wednesdays as a favorite.

I am enamored with the Monday lesson 2 weeks in a row. It is so easy to embellish on today’s Lesson and I am having fun with it.

Thanks for your comments.

[jorgemac]

Good point Skyman.

[jorgemac]

I forgot about my thumb position on the back of the neck. For most of the exercises my thumb is located in the middle of the back of the neck. Also the angle of the guitar is about 25 to 39 degrees away from my stomach area. i have long arms and do find this position more natural and comfortable for me. My back is straight , not hunched over the guitar. If you are new you need to learn the finger positions without needing to hunch over to see the fret board.

[jorgemac]

yep, that is always a work in progress for most folks.

i suggest starting,5 minutes a day, with the 3 treble strings.

middle finger on E/1, index finger on B/1 and ringer finger on G/2.

Walk that finger position to the 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th frets, G, A, C, D chords. get comfortable with moving the 3 fingers in those positions.

Do this for a week then

We start with the Index finger covering 2 strings. that is all you need to do for this week. just move the index finger down the neck in the same fretted positions you practice last week. Just the index finger for a whole week until you feel comfortable holding down the 2 treble strings. make sure your thumb stays behind the fret your index finger is holding down.

the following week, if you feel comfortable holding down the the E and B treble strings with index finger add the middle finger to the g string 1st fret up from the index finger position. Walk these 2 fingers down the neck to 10th fret D chord. Remember the thumb position behind the E and B strings position. This helps develop strength when barring chords.

After this becomes comfortable for you add the ring finger to the D string 3rd fret and practice this every day for a few minutes before practice. You will feel much more comfortable playing the 4 finger barre chord and will not avoid the dreaded F chord . The f chord is a very welcome part of my picking. Also the G, A and C chord using the 4 string form. All of these positions can be jumping off points for minor chords and the major 7th chord, that would be the the B flat M7th which is the IV Chord in the key of F.

I suggest using the 3 treble strings as a basic method to form all of the Major and Minor chords. and do practice both of these chord forms a few times a week.

[jorgemac]

Like Bill Brown I find the full barre f easier than the Mini barre. The mini barre is much easier, for me, going 2 frets down the neck and make a G mini barre chord, Which I use a lot, especially in the key of D. If you find the mini barre easier further down the neck be sure to practice that position, which begins by barring the E and B strings on the 2nd fret.

This comes up all of the time and i did a full page breakdown of how to learn to do the mini barre chords.

[jorgemac]

This is Sunday late morning on the left coast and I just Spent 30 minutes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday’s lessons. I do like the Monday Chords arrangements. Like the 1st and 2nd measures of D end with a modified G notes, too cool.

[jorgemac]

Friday does take the whole week and combine highlights of the other day’s lessons. If you put the practice time in on the other days it can feel great to feel all of that work pay off.

Wednesdays are OK but I usually goes through the scales a few times then do my own thing and pick from patterns that I enjoy high lighting.

most of my riff based patterns begin above the 5th fret an involve double stops, triplets, slides, hammer on and pull offs and a heck of a lot arpeggio’s. Mark from Dire Straights is the style I would like to acheive someday.

[jorgemac]

Thumb placement on the back of the neck also affects the angle of your wrist. I usually like to strum and pick, in practice sessions, with my right leg crossing my left knee and leaning back away from the guitar Face. I use a well supported office style chair with lumbar support and a head rest and the back of my head almost touching the adjustable head rest. The guitar position is at about a 30 degree and away from my stomach area. It is not flat up against my body.

I’m 6′ 2″ with fairly long arms. I am not bent over looking at the fret board, staining my upper shoulders. My arms and wrists are loose, not tense. My arm is coming over the fret board between the strap button area and the upper curve of the the top of the guitar high up on my forearm. My elbow is not touching the top of my guitar.

My pinky finger is either touching the guitar top or close to touching the top and moves with the rest of my hand when I am strumming chords lightly touch the guitar top. When needing to keep time that pinky will sometimes tap the guitar top for a light percussive tone. Almost all of my 4 and 5 fret barre chord thumb position is close to the middle of the neck back and when I fret past the 5th fret is slowly creeps down closer to the treble bottom of the neck

When I start practice my eyes are usually looking down at my guitar, just to orient all of the “working parts”, but soon as I start to get into a groove my head and upper body will start “dancing” and my left foot bobbing in time to the sounds. My eyes may be closed or slightly open.

One of the hardest things learning guitarist have to overcome is being self conscious of how you appear to others while playing. If you can overcome that it will loosen you up and allow you to play freely. I play a lot looser when not in front of other people. Still have to play a while to loosen up in front of folks

It all takes time and a heck of a lot of just getting used to playing guitar.

[jorgemac]

The more you play the more you learn to minimize un needed arm and wrist action.

One the the ways i learned to easily find the right string to pick and the notes to actually strum was by having my Pinky(when not using it) lightly anchor on the top of the guitar right below, or sometimes touching the treble E string. It helped me to only use the amount of arm and wrist motion needed at that moment of picking. I do practice a lot with my eyes closed and have kind of developed a “feeling” for picking he right string with having to look at it. All of it takes time.

i also try to warm up using the therapeutic squeeze ball and the Chinese metal balls a few times a week.

[jorgemac]

when I lived up in Northern Cal I was a regular every year but That was at the original location. Haven’t been to it since it switched locations and also I retired and moved further south from the Bay Area. it was an excellent festival and much music jamming in the evening.

Another good summer festival in N. Cal is the Kate Wolf Festival. Plenty of music jamming there also. Lot of music scene action in NorCal summers.

[jorgemac]

Way too many Guitars amps pedals books, cd’s. I live on the central Cal coast and visit S.F. a few times a year, as I have family up there. Always looking for pickers to jam with.

[jorgemac]

Martins are great guitars, I have a 000-28EClapton I bought in Oklahoma City, I think I 2009 that I dearly love, 000-15M that has a wonderful tone and an Sc-13 that I purchased at Gryphon soon after they came out. I love the playability of the DC-13 but I do wish it had better quality wood. Its tone doesn’t compare to to the other Martins. I’m thought of asking Martin to make me a custom SC-13 but am afraid of the price.

I do have A Taylor 12 string that I don’t play much, a Nylon 712 that I do play a lot, and another 712. You are right about the tone of the Taylor vs the Martin. If you want old school tone Martin is much better. Too bad cause the playability of the Taylors is outstanding.

My Favorite’s currently are all 3 of My Larrivee’s and my Yairi FYM66 all mahogany. I have a hard time putting the Yairi down. Fantastic tone, build quality and playability. Also Have A Yairi Parlor Pym66 all mahogany that I can noodle on propped up in bed. Try to find a Yairi fym66HD used if you want an complete folk style guitar.I had to look for over a year until I finally found one.

[jorgemac]

Fantastic Guitar store. They are online also. Every time I drive up north to visit family I try to set time aside to visit their shop.